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The pastoral boom, the rural land market, and long swings in New Zealand economic growth, 1873–19391

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  • DAVID GREASLEY
  • LES OXLEY

Abstract

Higher farm and manufacturing productivity associated with refrigerated exports led to New Zealand's attainment of the world's highest Human Development Index in 1913. Local responses to export opportunities increased the social depth of land ownership and fostered intensive growth. Closer settlement meant that land‐related income gains spread widely, but land market volatility also created instability. New Zealand had the world's highest GDP per capita in 1938, but it experienced long swings in its growth rates. Dramatic swings in rural land market activity engendered by the pastoral boom contributed greatly to a long depression in the 1920s; subsequently a new monetary regime facilitated fast recovery.

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  • David Greasley & Les Oxley, 2009. "The pastoral boom, the rural land market, and long swings in New Zealand economic growth, 1873–19391," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(2), pages 324-349, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:62:y:2009:i:2:p:324-349
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2008.00440.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Gary D. Libecap & Dean Lueck & Trevor O'Grady, 2010. "Large Scale Institutional Changes: Land Demarcation Within the British Empire," NBER Working Papers 15820, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Brian D. Varian, 2017. "British Capital and Merchandise Exports, 1870–1913: The Bilateral Case of New Zealand," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 239-262, July.
    3. Rebecca Williams & Les Oxley, 2016. "The Geography of Inventiveness in the Primary Sector: Some Initial Results for New Zealand, 1880–1895," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(2), pages 151-173, July.
    4. Greasley, David & Oxley, Les, 2010. "Knowledge, natural resource abundance and economic development: Lessons from New Zealand 1861-1939," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 443-459, October.
    5. Roberts, Evan & Wood, Pamela, 2014. "Birth weight and adult health in historical perspective: Evidence from a New Zealand cohort, 1907–1922," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 154-161.
    6. Gary D. Libecap & Dean Lueck & Trevor O'Grady, 2011. "Large-Scale Institutional Changes: Land Demarcation in the British Empire," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 295-327.
    7. Kris Inwood & Les Oxley & Evan Roberts, 2010. "Physical Stature In Nineteenth‐Century New Zealand: A Preliminary Interpretation," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 262-283, November.

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